Orissa's IT export crosses Rs 1,300 crore

Orissa's IT exports crossed Rs 1,300 crore and provided direct employment to 10,000 during 2010-11, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said today.

Orissa's state capital has also made good progress in the IT SEZ sector and to promote such Industries, IT SEZs were being established at Infocity and Infovalley here, Patnaik said.

The industry friendly ICT Policy-2011, the IT road map for the state, special economic zone policy and IT hardware policy were being prepared to attract more IT industries to the state. "Undoubtedly the state has always been in the forefront in the IT revolution," the chief minister said.

Stating that there was no dearth of talent as recently all IT/ITES majors were depending on the city for their manpower needs, Patnaik said the state government was taking steps to build Bhubaneswar as the number one IT destination among Tier-II cities of the country.

He was speaking at the foundation stone-laying for Kalinga Park, Phase-II, the second phase of Global Software Development Centre of TCS here.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Executive Director of TCS, S Mahalingam, said the company has always been a pioneer in helping develop new hubs for the IT industry in India.

Since 2009, when TCSL started its operation in Bhubaneswar, it has received infrastructure support from the government, he said.

"The local talent has impressed the authorities in TCS, which is available as per requirement of the company," Mahalingam said.